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Date format problem in Windows 7

Posted: Tue 04 May 2010 4:48 pm
by steve
There is a problem with the date settings in Windows 7 (which may only affect Delphi applications like Cumulus) where non-US users can sometimes get US-format dates, even if they apparently have the correct format in the control panel. This can cause Cumulus to have problem downloading data from a station's logger (it can't work out when the last download took place). It can also cause a number of other date-related problems. The circumvention is to re-apply your date settings in the Windows control panel:

1) Open Regional and Language Options
2) Under "Format" pick anything else. (eg: English (United States)).
3) Press "Apply"
4) Under "Format" pick your desired locale (eg: English (United Kingdom)).
5) Press OK.

It is important that all Windows 7 users apply this circumvention, whether you have noticed a problem or not. To be on the safe side, even US users should probably also do it.

Note that if you have already hit a problem in Cumulus caused by this, you will need to check your log files and today.ini to see if the date formats need correcting.

It's also important that Windows 7 users don't install Cumulus under "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)".